Hairstylist thankful for surgeons who reattached nearly-severed hand

Robert Ruffin, a stylist at Edward Nepi Salon in Grosse Pointe, holds his blow dryer Tuesday, Nov.24, 2015. Six months ago he accidentally almost cut off his left hand above the wrist with a 12-inch circular saw. Thanks to the University of Michigan surgeons who reattached it, his arm is now fully usable and pain-free.(Photo: Regina H.Boone/Detroit Free Press)

He celebrated Thanksgiving with a new outlook on life — grateful for things he had overlooked before: his hand, his work, the army of friends he never realized he had, and the ability to enjoy the little and big things in life, like riding his horse Chief, blow-drying hair, and building furniture out of recycled wood.

"To be able to do all these things, to be able to work — it's huge. It's huge. It's just a miracle," a tearful and choked-up Ruffer said while working in a Grosse Pointe salon this week, cutting and coloring the hair of loyal clients he has known for decades.

The 58-year-old Ruffer, who lives in Fairhaven and works alongside his wife, Diane, at the Edward Nepi salon in Grosse Pointe, said he owes a huge debt of gratitude to many, especially the team of doctors from the University of Michigan who saved his hand and his livelihood.

"These doctors at U of M ... I'm indebted to them. This is a big deal," Ruffer said while fighting tears. "They gave me a tremendous amount to be grateful for. I just want the world to know that I'm really grateful. U of M rescued me. I need them to know how grateful I am."

'I knew I was in trouble'

Ruffer vividly remembers the day of the accident.

It was May 18, a Monday afternoon. He was cutting scrap wood using a compound miter saw when when the sleeve of his Carhartt shirt got caught in the saw's 12-inch blade. In a split second, he said, the blade caught his left arm, just above the wrist, slicing through 80% of his tendons.

"It was very fast ... I saw that the blade was in my arm," said Ruffer, who turned off the saw and held his dangling arm up with his other arm. "I knew I was in trouble."

Ruffer estimated that he had about six to eight minutes of consciousness left. He ran to the door of his house and started screaming for his 20-year-old son, Randall, who came right away.

"He looked at me in shock," said Ruffer, who took the black leather Gucci belt that his son was wearing and used it as a tourniquet. "I remember telling him, 'Pull on this thing like your life depends on it' ... The only time I actually felt pain is when we tied the tourniquet on."

Ruffer noted that he was lucky his son was home that day. The college student had flunked a math course and stayed home to reregister for it.

"He's my guardian angel now," Ruffer said of his son.

'Get me to U of M'

An ambulance arrived at Ruffer's home and transported him to a local hospital. He was still alert.

"Sir, what's your name?" he recalled an ER doctor asking him.

"Get me to U-of-M," he says he responded.

"Sir, what's your birthday?" "Get me to U-of-M."

"Sir, do you know who the president is?" "Get me to U-of-M."

Ruffer's wish was granted. He was airlifted by helicopter to Ann Arbor, where the chopper landed on the roof of the prestigious university hospital. He recalled seeing the massive, yellow block M painted on the hospital roof and being wheeled into the operating room right from the chopper.

"They are right there, waiting for you," he recalled.

Hanging by a thread

Orthopedic surgeon Kagan Ozer, who leads U-M's new hand transplant program, headed the surgical team that saved Ruffer's hand in a nearly four-hour operation. He noted that there was a small window of opportunity — four to six hours after the traumatic event — to save Ruffer's hand, which was cut just above the wrist. The saw had cut through his skin, bone, tendons, arteries and major nerves.

As Ozer explained, they had to move fast.

Ozer compared the surgery to constructing a house:

First, you need a frame, which means that you put the bones together first.

Then you need to bring in the plumbing to bring in the blood flow, which involves connecting arteries and veins.

Then you need to connect the nerves to bring in the electricity.

"We were lucky that he did not have any compromise in terms of his blood flow," Ozer said. "You have to be really fast."

The construction plan worked. Ruffer has regained full use of his hand. He can make a fist. He can move his wrist back and forth. And he can cut hair like Edward Scissorhands, as he demonstrated while clipping a client's hair at top speed last week.

"Robert is one of these unique individuals who has incredible motivation," Ozer said. "Not everybody is as lucky as Robert."

Robert Ruffin, a stylist at Edward Nepi Salon in Grosse Pointe, styles a client's hair on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015. Ruffin is back to styling hair six months after accidentally almost cutting off his left hand above the wrist with a power saw. University of Michigan surgeons reattached the hand.(Photo: Regina H.Boone/Detroit Free Press)

Outpouring of support

For Ruffer, the accident proved to be both physically and emotionally grueling.

Perhaps his biggest struggle, he said, was learning to accept the outpouring of support he has received. Clients brought his family dinner nonstop. They called to check on him and mailed him cards. One client exercised his horse because he couldn't, while another sent a cleaning crew over to tidy up his house. Even strangers mailed him letters.

"The good Lord heard so many people praying for me, and he gave me a pass. I literally was not aware that I was that well liked," Ruffer said through tears. "I never felt that I was worth that."